Ben Houchen’s reprieve win in the Tees Valley mayoral election may yet be enough for Rishi Sunak to stave off a Tory rebellion.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak greets supporters in Teesside celebrating Lord Ben Houchen’s re-election as Tees Valley mayor
The Opposition also took a Tory scalp in the Blackpool South by-election, the only Westminster ballot of Thursday’s polling day. Sir Keir Starmer was in a buoyant mood following the result in North Yorkshire, a region which covers Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency and where Labour has historically struggled to compete in parliamentary elections.
In the East Midlands, Labour’s Claire Ward became the region’s first elected mayor with a majority of more than 50,000 votes over Tory Ben Bradley who also sits as MP for Mansfield and leader of Nottinghamshire County Council.The Conservatives suffered a net loss of 371 councillors, as the party lost control of 10 councils.
While the Prime Minister acknowledged that results were “disappointing”, Mr Sunak was keen to stress his party’s victory in Tees Valley as a sign that Labour was not on course to win the general election. Victory in Tees Valley is likely to have quelled efforts to topple Mr Sunak in light of other local election results, and his position will be further secured if the Tories can hold on to the West Midlands mayoralty on Saturday.
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